


Run Interference

by sarahcakes613



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s16e15 Undercover Mother, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25315897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: Episode tag for Undercover Mother, based on the idea of what Rafael's reaction would be to seeing Sonny all bloodied up in holding if they were already in a relationship.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 38
Kudos: 167





	Run Interference

**Author's Note:**

> I've been doing a slow rewatch of SVU and Sonny with the ice pack to his bloody face in episode 16x15 made me feel some kind of way.  
> Then Mimi asked if anyone had requests for photo manips/gif edits/etc and I was like HELLO and she came up with an [AMAZING photo set](https://twitter.com/Mimisempai/status/1283535903823138821) which gave me an urgent need to write this!

_“The whole squad was undercover at a brothel on Super Bowl Sunday?”_ He says it again, because he really can’t believe it.

“We don’t need to get your approval.” She rolls her eyes as she repeats herself, and Rafael bites back the urge to roll his in response.

“A heads up might have been nice. I was enjoying the game.”

Olivia stares blankly at him until he smirks.

“Okay, fine, I was enjoying the drinks and appetizers while everyone around me was enjoying the game.”

“Politicking on Super Bowl Sunday? Or do you have a social life I don’t know about?” Olivia asks as she removes her earrings and begins wiping off the heavy makeup.

“I was with my partner’s family.” Barba says. “He had to work today, but I enjoy spending time with them when I can.”

Olivia blinks. “Partner? Since when?”

Rafael’s mouth quirks into a smile. “Just over four years. We met when I was working in Brooklyn.”

“Barba, we’ve been working together for almost three years and you’ve _never_ indicated you were in any kind of relationship.”

Rafael shrugs. “We’re private. But back to your raid, you’re saying Declan was there, you need to find out why.”

“I will. Right after I read him the riot act for pistol whipping Carisi.”

Rafael freezes. “Is Detective Carisi okay?”

He tries to keep his voice even. She gives him a side-eye as she nods.

“A bloody nose, but he’ll be fine. They gave him an ice pack when they brought him in.”

They walk out of Olivia’s office together and stroll down the hall to the holding cell, where Olivia nods at Amaro to haul Declan out. She’s staying out of sight so Timmer and the others don’t see her out of costume, but Barba is in full view of the cell.

His eyes go wide as he sees Sonny sitting there, gingerly holding the ice pack to his face. He’s wincing, and he keeps touching the bridge of his nose like he’s trying to reassure himself it’s not broken again.

Olivia looks closely at Barba, watching the minute twitches of his face as he visually catalogs Carisi’s injuries. He senses her watching him, turns to glare at her. She’s taken aback at the dark intensity of the anger she sees in his eyes. He’s looking at her the way he looks at defendants and their counsel when his objections are overruled.

“Get your answers from Declan and then meet me back in your office.” He demands, and then he turns to Amaro. “And get Carisi out of there.”

Nick looks to Olivia for guidance.

“He’s technically still undercover,” she cautions him. “He could create a rapport with Timmer if we let them stew.”

“Then lie, send someone in to tell him his wife is bailing him out, I don’t care, just get my fucking boyfriend out of your holding cell.” He snaps at her before stalking back to her office and slamming the door behind him.

Olivia and Nick stare at each other and then look over to the holding cell. Sonny is standing near the bars now, and he’s looking straight at them, a grim expression of resignation on his face.

When Olivia returns from speaking to Declan, she walks into her office to find Sonny seated in front of her desk. The ice pack is gone, probably returned to the precinct freezer, and he’s sitting quietly while Rafael dabs lightly at his face with a damp paper towel.

“I know I’ve already asked you this but _what in the hell were you thinking_?” Rafael looks up at Olivia, the glare still present in his eyes.

“For starters, I wasn’t thinking the ADA was going to have a personal connection to one of my UCs.” She shoots back, striding over to her chair and sitting down with a huff.

“You want to tell me why you didn’t disclose this five months ago?” She directs the question at Carisi, who looks up at Rafael before answering.

“We wanted to wait, to make sure I was going to stick around. We disclosed when we first got together, cause we were both in Brooklyn, and it got…tense. I was getting sidelined a lot. We could never prove anything, but then Raf pulled his lateral and I switched to SVU…we were just waiting, that’s all. Sarge, I swear, we were gonna tell you.”

“Six months.” Rafael chimes in. “We were going to wait until he’d been here six months, and then file the disclosure forms. Everything has been above board. Sonny’s never been lead on a case I’ve prosecuted, and we’ve never interrogated a suspect or taken a witness statement without you or one of the other detectives there as well. We’ve been careful.”

He says it in a pointed tone, a tone that Olivia knows is a dig at her own past relationships. She ignores it, for now.

He paces over to the wastebasket, throwing in the paper towel. Sonny’s eyes track him across the room, and he reaches his hand out when Barba comes closer.

Barba takes it, grips it tight, bringing it up to kiss Sonny’s knuckles. Now that Olivia is getting over the initial shock of it, she’s enjoying this glimpse into Rafael’s softer side.

“I wish you’d warned me, cariño.” Rafael murmurs. “Theresa was very put out that I had to leave before the halftime show, we were both looking forward to seeing whatever ridiculous outfit Katy Perry came out in.”

His tone is light, teasing, but there’s an undercurrent of anxiety to it.

Sonny smiles, and his eyes are sparkling. Olivia wonders if they’ve forgotten she’s even in the room. She’d be irritated, but she’s too busy soaking in the details of her friend’s apparent long term relationship with one of her subordinates. Like the part where it clocks for her that he’d been _watching the game with Carisi’s family on Staten Island_ when he got called in.

She’s going to lord that one over him forever.

“I’m going to take Sonny home.” Rafael declares unilaterally, although from the exhaustion seeping into Sonny’s face, there is no argument there. “We’ll come in together tomorrow morning with the paperwork.”

He looks at Olivia and gives her that smirky half-smile of his. “The forms have been filled out since his first day. We really were just making sure he was going to be a good fit.”

Sonny squirms, like he’s a child sitting in on a parent-teacher meeting.

Olivia nods. “Go home. I think we’re about wrapped up on anything we were going to get from Tracy and Timmer anyhow.”

Sonny stands and sways a bit, leaning into Barba. As they leave the squad room, he can feel Rollins’ gaze searing into his back. He’ll deal with her tomorrow. Right now he just wants to go home and curl up on the couch with his boyfriend, maybe watch the game’s highlight reel on ESPN.

Rafael is reluctant to remove his hand from some part of Sonny. He keeps his palm firm against the small of Sonny’s back as they leave the precinct, holds his hand in the Lyft home, snuggles up next to him on the couch.

“I’m okay, you know.” Sonny says softly when he feels Rafael’s gaze drifting again to the swollen skin of his nose. “Murphy didn’t know I was SVU.”

“I know. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to march myself over to 1PP and find out who Declan Murphy is working for so I can charge them all with penal code 120.18.”

Sonny laughs. “Menacing a police officer? You gotta be able to prove he knew I was a cop for that to stick.”

Rafael sighs. “I know, trust me. And I know you can handle yourself, and I know you weren’t really in immediate danger, but still, cariño, please.” He looks up at Sonny. “Next time Liv has you going under, at the very least leave me a note.”

Sonny nods and kisses Rafael on the top of his head. “I will, I promise. And I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

“Oh, I don’t know. There’s something a little bit dangerously sexy about seeing you all bloodied up.” Rafael hums, running a finger lightly up the bruised area.

Sonny winces even as he laughs, and Rafael leans over to drop a gentle kiss on the tip of Sonny’s nose.

“Come on,” He says, arranging himself so he is tucked under Sonny’s arm, his head on Sonny’s thigh. “Enough shop talk. I’m sure we can find an agonizingly detailed play by play of the game on one of your 200 sports channels. Wake me up if they show any of the halftime footage.”


End file.
